In the manufacture of paper products, such as facial and bath tissues and paper towels, the wet strength and the dry strength of the product are important properties. To achieve these properties, it is common practice to add certain strengthening agents to an aqueous suspension of the papermaking fibers prior to forming the paper sheet. While effective in achieving targeted strength properties, these chemicals are expensive and may be detrimental for other properties (e.g., bulk) or can cause problems for the papermaking process when the whitewater has to be reused.
Therefore, there is a need for a less expensive and more convenient method of improving the sheet strength properties of papermaking fibers.
It has now been discovered that certain hydrolytic enzymes can randomly react with the cellulose chains at or near the surface of the papermaking fibers to create single aldehyde groups on the fiber surfaces which are part of the fiber. These aldehyde groups, the reducing ends left after random hydrolysis of xcex2-1,4 glucosidic bonds in cellulose, become sites for cross-linking with exposed hydroxyl groups of other fibers when the fibers are formed into sheets and dried, thus increasing sheet strength. In addition, by randomly cutting or hydrolyzing the fiber cellulose chains predominantly at or near the surface of the fiber, degradation of the interior of the fiber cell wall is avoided or at least minimized. Consequently, paper or tissue made from these fibers alone, or made from blends of these fibers with untreated pulp fibers, show an increase in strength properties such as dry tensile, wet tensile, tear, z-direction tensile (surface integrity), etc.
Hence, in one aspect, the invention resides in a method for treating papermaking fibers comprising mixing an aqueous suspension of papermaking fibers and one or more hydrolytic enzymes, optionally in the presence of surfactants, optionally in the presence of other non-cellulolytic enzymes or non-hydrolytic chemical reagents, wherein aldehyde groups are formed predominantly at or near the surface of the fibers.
In another aspect, the invention resides in a method for handling the aqueous suspension of aldehyde-rich, enzyme-treated fibers comprising mechanical beating or kneading if desired, and/or mixing with supplemental chemical additives as needed.
In yet another aspect, the invention resides in a method for making a paper sheet comprising: (a) forming an aqueous suspension of papermaking fibers treated with one or more hydrolytic enzymes capable of randomly hydrolyzing cellulose or hemicellulose to create aldehyde groups; (b) feeding the aqueous suspension into a papermaking headbox; (c) depositing the aqueous suspension onto a forming fabric, whereby the fibers are retained on the surface of the forming fabric in the form of a web while water containing the hydrolytic enzyme(s) passes through the fabric; (d) collecting and recycling the water to recombine the hydrolytic enzyme(s) with additional papermaking fibers to form an aqueous suspension; and (e) drying the web to form a paper sheet.
Particular hydrolytic enzymes useful for purposes of this invention are those enzymes which randomly hydrolyze cellulose and/or hemicellulose to create aldehyde groups. Such enzymes include, without limitation, cellulases, hemicellulases, endo-cellulases, endo-hemicellulases, carboxymethylcellulases (xe2x80x9cCMCasesxe2x80x9d) and endo-glucanases. It is known that these enzymes, in particular the cellulases, will degrade the fibrous cell wall, eventually improving pliability, flexibility or softness in coarser webs, but certainly impairing tensile properties at the same time. If these enzymes are not freed of their cellulose binding domain (a step called truncation), they require the presence of a surfactant to moderate the reaction and attain the desired hydrolysis under more controlled conditions. Particularly suitable enzymes for this purpose are truncated endo-glucanases and carboxymethylcellulases, which do not require the presence of a surfactant.
For the purposes of this invention, truncated monocomponent endo-glucanases or truncated carboxymethylcellulases can be advantageous relative to multi-component cellulases because of their purity (in particular, low or no exocellulase activity) and hence greater treatment control resulting in minimal cell wall damage. However, truncated multicomponent cellulases can also work well, since the reactivity of the exo-glucanase portion is severely restricted by chance. A suitable commercially available truncated endo-glucanase is sold by Novozymes North America, Inc. (Franklinton, N.C.), under the name Novozyme(copyright) 613, SP 988 or Novozyme(copyright) 51016. A related CBD-free CMCase is the commercial preparation EG-40N offered by Clariant Corporation (Charlotte, N.C.). Still, any other hydrolytic enzymes (natural, modified or even an artificial array of peptides) which possess endo-glucanase or carboxymethylcellulase activity can essentially produce similar results.
Suitable papermaking fibers include any virgin or recycled papermaking fibers known in the art, particularly including softwood fibers, such as northern softwood kraft fibers, and hardwood fibers, such as eucalyptus fibers.
As mentioned above, if the hydrolytic enzyme is not truncated, the presence of a surfactant is preferred in the enzyme treatment step for optimal results. A preferred surfactant is a nonionic surfactant, commercially available Tween(copyright) 80 (ICI Specialties) or any of the other Tween(copyright) 60 series products which are POE sorbitan derivatives. Other suitable nonionoic surfactants include D1600(copyright) from High Point Chemical Corp.; D1600(copyright) is an alkoxylated fatty acid. Furthermore, aryl alkyl polyetheralcohol, e.g. Union Carbide""s Triton(copyright) X-100 series of surfactants; alkyl phenyl ether of polyethylene glycol, e.g Union Carbide""s Tergitol(copyright) series of surfactants; alkylphenolethylene oxide condensation products, e.g. Rhone Poulenc, Incorporated""s Igepal(copyright) series of surfactants. In some cases an anionic surfactant may be used depending on the type of pulp used. Examples of suitable anionic surfactants are: ammonium or sodium salts of a sulfated ethoxylate derived from a 12 to 14 carbon linear primary alcohol; such as Vista""s Alfonic(copyright) 1412A or 1412S; and sulfonated naphthalene formaldehyde condensates, e.g. Rohm and Haas""s Tamol(copyright) SN. In some cases a cationic surfactant can be used, especially when debonding is also desired. Suitable cationic surfactants include imidazole compounds, e.g. Ciba-Geigy""s Amasoft(copyright) 16-7 and Sapamine(copyright) P quaternary ammonium compounds; Quaker Chemicals"" Quaker(copyright) 2001; and American Cyanamid""s Cyanatex(copyright).
The amount of surfactant, if present, can be from about 0.5 to about 6 pounds per metric ton of pulp, more specifically from about 1 to about 5 pounds per metric ton of pulp, more specifically from about 2 to about 4 pounds per metric ton of pulp, and still more specifically from about 2 to about 3 pounds per metric ton of pulp. The specific amount will vary depending upon the particular enzyme being used and the enzyme dosage.
The extent of the hydrolytic modification will depend on the dosage of enzyme applied. The amount of enzyme administered can be denoted in terms of its activity (in enzymatic units) per mass of dry pulp. In general, endo-glucanase activity (xe2x80x9cCMCasexe2x80x9d activity) in cellulases can be assayed by viscosimetry using carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) as a substrate. The higher the activity in a given enzyme preparation, the more pronounced the decay of viscosity will be after a given reaction (incubation) time under predefined experimental conditions. Novo Nordisk Analytical Method 302.1/1-GB, available on request, can be used to assay endoglucanase activity. It calls for the determination of the viscosity loss of a particular solution of CMC (such as Aqualon 7LFD, initial concentration 34 gpL) after 30 minutes of incubation with a given enzyme preparation at pH 7.5 (phosphate buffer) at 40xc2x0 C. The method relies on the construction of a calibration curve using a standard enzyme of known carboxymethylcellulase activity such as /S, Bagsvaerd Carezyme (batch 17-1196, nominal activity 4931 ECU/g), provided by Novozymes A, Denmark. xe2x80x9cECUxe2x80x9d stands for endocellulase units. Determinations of unknown activities are done relative to the standard(s) by interpolation in the calibration curve, with all preparations reacting under the same conditions. The instrument used to measure viscosity reduction is a vibrating rod viscometer, such as the MIVI 6001 unit, manufactured by Sofraser S.A., Villemandeur, France. Still, any other type of viscometer could be used, provided that the same CMC grade is used, a known CMCase standard is employed and the same incubation conditions are followed.
For purposes of this invention, enzyme dosages can vary depending on the desired extent of the treatment and can be from about 5000 to about 200,000 ECU/kilogram of oven dry fibers, more specifically from about 10,000 to about 100,000 ECU/kg, more specifically from about 10,000/kg to about 75,000 ECU/kg, and still more specifically from about 12,000 to about 60,000 ECU/kg. Mixing is desirable to achieve initial homogeneous dispersion and continuous contact between the enzyme and the substrate.
The consistency of the aqueous fiber suspension (weight percent fiber in the total pulp slurry) can be accommodated to meet usual paper mill practices. Low consistencies of about 1% or lower are workable; and consistencies as high as 16% still show sufficient enzyme activity in a pulper. For economical reasons, a consistency in the range of about 8 to about 10% is advantageous.
The reaction conditions for these enzymes can be chosen to provide a pH of about 4 to about 9, more specifically from about 6 to about 8. Temperatures can range from about 0xc2x0 C. (above freezing) to about 70xc2x0 C. However, it can be envisioned that in the future thermostabilized endo-glucanases could react more effectively at extreme temperatures (such as at the boiling point of water), or that alkali-stabilized endo-glucanases could react efficiently at high pH ranges (for instance at pH above 11).
Reaction times are also very flexible and depend on the application of enzyme and on the desired extent of the modification. But if kept short, fiber cell wall damage is avoided even with regular cellulases especially in the presence of surfactants. In general, suitable reaction times can be from about 10 to about 180 minutes, more specifically from about 15 to about 60 minutes.
A measure of the effectiveness of the enzyme treatment is the increase in the xe2x80x9ccopper numberxe2x80x9d of cellulose. The copper number is defined as the number of grams of copper resulting from the reduction of cupric sulfate by 100 grams of pulp. The procedure for determining the copper number is described in TAPPI Standard T 430 om-94 xe2x80x9cCopper Number of Pulpxe2x80x9d. Historically, copper number determinations have been used to detect damage to cellulose after hydrolytic or specific oxidative treatments. An increase in reducing groups can indicate deterioration that will have a detrimental impact on mechanical strengths, since the evolution of aldehyde groups has been normally proportional to the random split of the cellulose chain and the decrease of its degree of polymerization throughout the fiber. However, for purposes of this invention, the copper number measures the improvement in the cross-linking ability of the fibers since the chemical modification is substantially restricted to the surface or the surface-near region of the fibers so as to maintain the integrity of the fiber cell walls. In general, the fibers treated in accordance with this invention have a copper number of about 0.10 or more grams of copper per 100 grams of oven-dried pulp, more specifically from about 0.10 to about 1.0 gram of copper per 100 grams of oven-dried pulp, and still more specifically from about 0.15 to about 0.70 gram of copper per 100 grams of oven-dried pulp.
The strength increases associated with the treated fibers of this invention, as measured by the dry tensile strength of handsheets made from the treated fibers of this invention compared to the dry tensile strength of handsheets made with untreated fibers, is about 40 percent or greater, more specifically about 50 percent or greater, more specifically about 60 percent or greater, more specifically about 70 percent or greater, more specifically from about 40 to about 150 percent, more specifically from about 50 to about 140 percent, still more specifically from about 60 to about 140 percent, and still more specifically from about 80 to about 140 percent. These strength increases are attributable solely to the enzymatic treatment of the fibers and is without the assistance or contribution of any other supplemental additive(s) or mechanical action that alters the fiber structure, such as refining.
Dried paper made from the treated fibers of this invention can be repulped, a new handsheet formed and dried without significant loss of the dry tensile strength.